Hurricane Harvey will distort measures of the U.S. economy in the weeks and months ahead, making it more difficult for economists and policy makers to gauge its trajectory at a sensitive time for the Federal Reserve.

Everything from jobless claims, which already surged in a report on Thursday, to gross domestic product and inflation will be knocked off course, with brief spikes across a wide range of reports, economists say. And that...

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Small Businesses Look to Rebuild After Harvey

Small-business owners at a strip mall in southwest Houston are scrambling to reopen one week after flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Small businesses often face steep costs for rebuilding and there are limited resources to aid companies after disasters. Photo/Video: Jake Nicol/The Wall Street Journal